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Warner Bros. Pictures
1st Logo (September 23, 1923-August 30, 1929) Nicknames: "The Shield", "'20s Shield", "Shield of Boredom" Logo: On a black background, a large, bizarrely shaped shield is seen, with a very wide top. The top part of the shield shows a picture of the Warner studio in Burbank CA, the bottom having a squashed, stylized "WB". "a WARNER BROTHERS" is above the shield (with "WARNER BROTHERS" in an arc around the shield, a la the first Columbia logo), with "CLASSIC of the SCREEN" below. Starting in 1926 or so, it changed to "PRODUCTION". FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: Silent or the opening theme. Availability: Extremely rare. Scare Factor: None. It's a boring logo. 2nd Logo (November 7, 1929-August 29, 1936) Nicknames: "The Shield II", "'20s Shield II", "Shield of Boredom II" Logo: The words "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, Inc." appear, and below that "& THE VITAPHONE CORP." appears in a much smaller font, with the "VITAPHONE" using "electric" style letters. Below that is a very small WB shield (using the stylized WB seen in the 1st logo), and in script, "Present". Behind it there is the drawing of a flag, "waving" so it looks like it is in three sections. On the first one, "WARNER BROS." appears, followed by the electric-letter "VITAPHONE" logo and on section 3, "PICTURES". FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: Silent. Availability: TBA Scare Factor: None. Like the previous logo, it's another boring logo. 3rd Logo (July 27, 1935-December 18, 1937) Nicknames: "The Shield III", "'30s Shield" Logo: Over a cumulonimbus cloud setting, a superimposed WB Shield design zooms in to the screen. The words "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, Inc. Present" appear over the shield. FX/SFX: The shield zooming in. Music/Sounds: The opening theme. Availability: TBA Scare Factor: Low to medium. 4th Logo (December 25, 1937-July 3, 1948) Nicknames: "The Shield IV", "'30s Shield II", "Shield of Boredom III" Logo: Inside a shield, a more realistic version of the stylized "WB" as seen in the previous logo appears. Over the shield is a banner that reads "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC." Below the logo is the word "Presents" in script. FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: A majestic sounder, composed by Max Steiner. At least three films, a different fanfare, composed by Franz Waxman, plays during the logo. Usually, it's the film's opening music. Availability: Fairly common. Scare Factor: None. Like the 1st and 2nd logos, it's another boring logo. 5th Logo (July 31, 1948-November 1, 1967) Nicknames: "The Shield V", "'40s Shield", "Shield of Boredom IV" Logo: Same as before, only the design has been cleaned up a bit. The border of the shield, banner, text, and "WB" are now gold, and the inside of the shield is now blue. The banner phrase is now changed to "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" and is now gold. "Presents", in the same font as the previous logo, usually appears below. Also, the background is now a cloud skyline (much like the logos of 1984 on). For the later years, this logo was usually superimposed onto the titles of Warner features of this period. FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: The Max Steiner fanfare from the last logo. Sometimes, the opening theme is heard. Availability: TBA Scare Factor: None. Like the 1st, 2nd and previous logos, it's another boring logo. 6th Logo (September 28, 1967-November 12, 1970) Nicknames: "The Shield VI", "'60s Shield" Logo: Just a superimposed, stylized shield which can be white, yellow or red. The shield features a combination of a "W'" and a "'7", representing Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. The "W7" is often drawn on-screen, a la the NBC Snake, although it's a still logo on a few films. Below the shield, "WARNER BROS.-SEVEN ARTS" is seen. The word "Presents" usually appears under the shield. FX/SFX: The "trace". Music/Sounds: Silent or the opening theme. Availability: Rare. Scare Factor: Minimal. 7th Logo (May 13, 1970-February 25, 1972) Nicknames: "The Shield VII", "'70s Shield", "Shield of Boredom V" Logo: Over a blue screen is an abstract shield (like those seen on WB movie posters in the '60s) in a golden color with a dark brownish color inside. A simple lettering of the WB appears at the upper part and a rectangle of the same colors appear at the lower part of the shield, with the Kinney byline inside. The word "PRESENTS" appears underneath the logo. Byline: * May 13, 1970-June 25, 1971: "A KINNEY NATIONAL COMPANY" * April 18-May 1, 1971: "A KINNEY SERVICES COMPANY" * June 17-September 30, 1971: "A KINNEY LEISURE SERVICE" * December 19, 1971-February 25, 1972: "A KINNEY COMPANY" FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: The opening theme or silence. Availability: TBA Scare Factor: None. Like the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th logos, it's another boring logo. 8th Logo (November 24, 1971) Nicknames: "The Shield VIII", "'70s Shield II", "Shield of Boredom VI" Logo: On a background similar to the last logo, a bannerless WB shield is seen, with the design being more closer to the classic WB shield. "A KINNEY LEISURE SERVICE" is seen below. Byline: Referred to as "A KINNEY LEISURE SERVICE". FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: The opening theme. Availability: TBA Scare Factor: None. Like the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and previous logos, it's another boring logo. 9th Logo (May 24, 1972-January 31, 1973) Nicknames: "The Shield IX", "'70s Shield III", "Shield of Boredom VII" Logo: The standard WB shield logo, without the banner. It is on a blue background with "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" underneath. "Presents", in script, may appear below. Byline: Referred to a "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: A horn-driven theme with a flute mixed in towards the end, though this was used rather scarcely. Usually, the opening theme or silence is used. Availability: Ultra rare. Scare Factor: None. Like the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and the previous 2 logos, it's another boring logo. 10th Logo (January 31, 1973-September 28, 1984, 1984-1989) Nicknames: "The Big W", "'70s Big W", "\\'", "Where Did the Shield Go?", "Shield-less Logo" Logo: On a black background, a red abstract "W" consisting of two slanted elongated circles and a shorter elongated circle zooms in towards us. Around halfway through, the words "WARNER BROS" (in the Warner Communications custom typeface) appear below it. The red logo overtakes the screen as a smaller white "\\'" zooms in. It stops at the middle of the screen and a black square field, whose corners have been rounded and softened, fades in around the logo. "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" in the same font used for "WARNER BROS" fades in below. Most of the time, "PRESENTS" fades in below after that (in Helvetica). Byline: Referred to as "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY". Closing Title: On a red background, we see the "Big W", but has an invert of colors. Above it is "DISTRIBUTED BY WARNER BROS" and below it is the Warner Communications byline. FX/SFX: The zooming in of the "\\'". None for the closing variant. Music/Sounds: Usually silent or the opening theme of the movie. Availability: Rare. Scare Factor: Minimal. This is a favorite of many. 11th Logo (Orion Pictures Variant) (April 27, 1979-December 18, 1981) See the Orion Pictures page for info. 12th Logo (11th Official Logo) (June 8, 1984-February 2, 2001) Nicknames: "The Shield X", "'80s Shield", "The Shield Returns", "Shield of Staleness" Logo: Over a set of clouds (exactly the design of the clouds used in some versions of the 1948 logo), the WB shield appears (including the banner reading "WARNER BROS. PICTURES"), with the name of the owner at the bottom. Byline: * June 8, 1984-September 14, 1990: "A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" * March 9, 1990-February 26, 1993: "A TIME WARNER COMPANY" * August 14, 1992-February 2, 2001: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" Variants: * For some of their earlier films, "PRESENTS" faded in below the logo. * Scope films used a different cloud background. Closing Variants: * June 8, 1984-December 1997: The end logo, seen at the end of most movies, features a simple superimposed WB shield (without a banner), much like the short lived logo from early 1972. The phrase "DISTRIBUTED BY WARNER BROS." appears above the shield with the owner byline at the bottom. On films from 1984-roughly 1989, it would use the "Big W" logo, such as Gremlins, Cannonball Run II, The NeverEnding Story, Purple Rain, Tightrope, Oh, God! You Devil, Razorback (US release only), Fandango, Vision Quest, The Goonies, Pale Rider, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, American Flyers, Krush Groove, Spies Like Us, The Color Purple, Cobra, Under the Cherry Moon, Club Paradise, Over the Top, It's Alive III: Island of the Alive, Innerspace, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Surrender, Empire of the Sun, Stand and Deliver, Clara's Heart, Dangerous Liaisons, Bert Rigby, You're a Fool, Lean on Me, Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, Cookie, Next of Kin, and The Witches (completed in 1989, but not released until 1990). *A few movies had a variant where the "Big W" logo was bigger than normal. This appeared on Deadly Friend, Lethal Weapon, Funny Farm, Crossing Delancey, Tequila Sunrise, The Accidental Tourist, and Dead Bang. *On films from 1986-1990, such as Heartbreak Ridge, Burglar, Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol, The Witches of Eastwick, The Lost Boys, Who's That Girl, Nuts, Frantic, Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach, Above the Law, Arthur 2: On the Rocks, The Dead Pool, Caddyshack II, Clean and Sober, Stealing Home, Bird, Her Alibi, Pink Cadillac, Lethal Weapon 2, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Driving Miss Daisy, Tango & Cash, Hard to Kill, and White Hunter, Black Heart, the credit logo used the previous logo font with a WB shield. A variation of the credit logo can be seen at the end of The Bonfire of the Vanities and Curly Sue with the WB shield and below that "Distributed by Warner Bros., A Time Warner Company". *December 8, 1988-March 22, 2000: Another ending variation features the movie logo, but modified with the words "DISTRIBUTED BY WARNER BROS." above the shield. This was also used for the beginning of Freejack. *May 12, 2000-February 2, 2001: Only the words "DISTRIBUTED BY" appear above the shield; the "WARNER BROS. PICTURES" text is redone. Some releases like The In Crowd, Get Carter, and Miss Congeniality have the banner reading simply "WARNER BROS.". Also added is the URL byline, "www.warnerbros.com", below the owner disclaimer. There is also the print closing logo, but it's very rare and was seen on Invictus. FX/SFX: None, except for the "PRESENTS" text fading in on the original Warner Communications variation. Music/Sounds: In most cases, silent or the beginning of the films audio is used. For some of their first features (such as Gremlins), the 1930s/40s Max Steiner fanfare is heard. Music/Sounds Variant: On the Warner Archive DVD-R release of How Sweet It Is!, the logo is accompanied with the National General fanfare (the original distributors of the film) due to a sloppy plaster job. Availability: Extremely common. The 1992 logo is the easiest to find, as it is usually the one that plasters older logos. WB has eased up on this somewhat, and older logos have been seen more often in recent years on newer prints/masters. * The "PRESENTS" version can be found on Gremlins (the first film to have this logo and to also use the classic Max Steiner fanfare), Vision Quest, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, American Flyers, Cobra, Ratboy, Instant Justice, Everybody's All-American, and the 1986 VHS releases of Superman: The Movie and National Lampoon's Vacation. * The one with the Warner Communications byline can be found on the 1997 DVD release of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (the 2003 DVD has the 1998 logo with the AOL Time Warner byline), current DVD and Blu-ray prints of The Dead Pool with Clint Eastwood, TCM's print of The Goodbye Girl and the Blu-ray of Full Metal Jacket, but is not as easy to spot as the 1992 logo, as many DVDs and Encore/Starz prints have it plastered with the Time Warner Entertainment byline, such as on the DVD of Pee-wee's Big Adventure or even with the next logo below (occurs on the Police Academy films and Moving). * This variant unfortunately plasters the 6th logo on the 1990s VHS re-issue of the Elvis Presley movie Charro!. * Even the 1990 Time Warner byline has been plastered on 1990-92 films with the next logo on most of Encore's prints, though the Time Warner byline version is intact on the Blu-ray of Goodfellas, the 1999 DVD and 2017 Warner Archive Blu-ray of My Blue Heaven and the 2000 Director's Cut DVD of Lethal Weapon 3. One instance where the Time Warner byline does some plastering of its own was on The Ballad of Cable Hogue, where it plasters the Kinney Shield on current prints. * The logo is plastered by the 1985 Warner Home Video logo (w/ Time Warner Entertainment byline) on a '90s VHS release of Razorback. * The movie ending variation can be seen on films such as Joe Versus the Volcano, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Quick Change, Presumed Innocent, GoodFellas, Memphis Belle, US prints of Hamlet (1990), Ricochet, Strictly Business, Under Siege, The Bodyguard, Forever Young, The Man Without a Face, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, On Deadly Ground, Natural Born Killers, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, US prints of Twister, My Fellow Americans, Vegas Vacation, and Conspiracy Theory, as well as the original VHS releases of Thumbelina and A Troll in Central Park. * Strangely, the logo does not appear on most prints of the 1985 film Ladyhawke (a co-production with 20th Century Fox), aside from an older pay-TV copy that aired on Cinemax in 1987. * A silent version of the "PRESENTS" version can be seen (in color) on the 1989 VHS of Bugs Bunny in King Arthur's Court and (in black and white) on TCM's broadcast of the 1958 film Onionhead, followed by a black & white "Big W" closing logo at the end, and the 2003 Warner Bros. Television logo in color after that. * The logo premiered on (as mentioned above) Gremlins and made its final appearance on Valentine. * The variant without "PRESENTS" first appeared on Cannonball Run II, the second film to use this logo. * Don't expect to see this on most video prints at least of CBS Theatrical Films releases of this time, though it retained the CBS/Fox VHS and Kino Lorber Blu-Ray release of Grandview, U.S.A. (without "PRESENTS"). * The Warner Communications "Distributed by" variant can be found at the end of the 1999 DVD release of The American President (a 1995 Castle Rock film) of all places, likely due to a printing error when editing out the Columbia Pictures in-credit closing logo. * It also appears on the U.S. theatrical and VHS releases of The Nutcracker Prince, but the GoodTimes DVD release trims off this logo and only contains the Lacewood logo. The most likely reason was because it used a master prepared by the new rights holders that removed Warner references and added overseas opening credits (sourced from a VHS master) onto a higher quality U.S. master. * It may have been seen on theatrical prints of the Handmade Films productions Checking Out and How to Get Ahead in Advertising, but video prints remove this logo. * It can also be seen on Freeform airings of Rankin-Bass specials such as Rudolph's Shiny New Year (though the ending to that special before the compressed credits used the 1998 Warner Bros. TV logo), and at the end of Frosty's Winter Wonderland, and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. * Strangely, it appears on a 1988 reissue of the AIP film Grayeagle, after the Warner Home Video logo. Scare Factor: None. 12th Logo (January 16, 1998-2020) Nicknames: "CGI Shield", "Shield in the Sky II", "CGI WB Shield" Logo: A picture of the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, CA is seen with a gold tint. The picture "ripples" slowly for a bit and then rotates, revealing that it is the WB shield, redone in CGI and reflecting the studio. The cloud background is more computer generated. The logo rotates towards us and zooms out to its usual position, with the company byline fading in underneath. Trivia: This logo was created by Intralink Film Graphic Design. Bylines: *January 16, 1998-February 2, 2001: "A TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY" *February 16, 2001-September 12, 2003: "An AOL Time Warner Company" *November 5-December 5, 2003: "A Time Warner Company" *December 12, 2003-August 24, 2018: "A TimeWarner Company" (with "TimeWarner" in its own logo font, called Bodoni Bold, while the rest of the byline is in the FF Meta typeface) *September 23, 2016-September 22, 2017: "A TimeWarner Company" (with "TimeWarner" in its own logo font, called Bodoni Bold, while the rest of the byline is in the Proxima Nova font and is smaller than the Time Warner logo). This was only used on the Warner Animation Group films Storks, The Lego Batman Movie, the teaser trailer for The Lego Ninjago Movie, the trailers for Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, and the trailers for Smallfoot. *July 21, 2018-: "A WARNERMEDIA Company" (with "WARNERMEDIA" in its own logo font, called 'AT&T Aleck Sans Bold', while the rest of the byline is in the standard variation of the same font) *2019 (tentative): "a WarnerMedia company" (with "WarnerMedia" in its own logo font, while the rest of the byline is in the standard variation of the same font) Variants: *January 16-December 18, 1998: For this logo's first year, when the logo is zooming out, "75" and "YEARS" appear from behind the shield and move away to surround it. "Entertaining The World" fades in underneath, followed by the Time Warner Entertainment byline in white instead of orange. Also, the shield and the background are slightly enhanced. This was used on Fallen, Sphere, Dangerous Beauty, U.S. Marshals, City of Angels, Major League: Back to the Minors, Tarzan and the Lost City, Quest for Camelot (uses the Family Entertainment variant), Almost Heroes, A Perfect Murder, Lethal Weapon 4, The Negotiator, The Avengers (1998 film), Wrongfully Accused, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Without Limits, Practical Magic, Soldier, Home Fries, Jack Frost, and You've Got Mail. *A somewhat enhanced WB shield in 3D was spotted on NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience, Clash of the Titans, Hubble 3D, Born to Be Wild 3D, and 3D international releases of Beowulf. The animation revealing the shield is quicker, the flash reflection on the banner when the shield is revealed is not as bright, the inside of the shield is a brighter blue, the banner around the shield is shinier, the cloud background is further back, and the shield zooms out further more. *A version of the logo exists in which Bugs Bunny walks from the shield, does a Vanna pose, and eats a carrot, but the banner still reads "WARNER BROS. PICTURES". This version was used for Warner Bros. Family Entertainment for a short time. *Starting with Dolphin Tale, the shield is sleeker, the banner is shinier, the byline is orange-yellow, and the animation revealing the shield is enhanced. Though some films like The Dark Knight Rises, Gangster Squad, and most foreign films released by the company at the time uses the 2003-2011 version. Closing Variants: *1998-February 2, 2001, May 17, 2002, March 5, 2004: Same as the previous logo. *February 16, 2001- : This closing logo features the 1984 shield with the banner inscription updated to match that of the current opening logo; the words "Distributed by" appear over the shield with the URL address underneath the byline. This is pretty much a modified version of the 2001 Warner Bros. Television logo. *A scope version of the closing logo has a much zoomed out shield, much like the IMAX variant. This was spotted on We Are Marshall. FX/SFX: The scenery ripples, a golden shield appears and focuses into view. Music/Sounds: *January 16-December 18, 1998: The original 75th Anniversary version of this logo used a wind-blowing chime fanfare. *February 12, 1999- : An 8-note piano tune that builds into a powerful, moving fanfare, based on the theme from Casablanca, "As Time Goes By". *In other cases, it uses the opening theme of the movie from a soundtrack or silence. Music/Sounds Variants: *On current prints and HBO airings of U.S. Marshals and The Negotiator, the 2003 version of this logo with the TimeWarner byline uses the wind-blowing chime fanfare from the original 75th Anniversary version. The 1999 DVD and 2009 Blu-ray of the latter retain their original 75th Anniversary logo. *On current prints of Innerspace and Caddyshack II, this plastered the Warner Communications version of the previous shield, but kept the horn fanfare. Availability: Very common. It's seen on most WB films from 1998 until 2020, starting with Fallen. Several classic films, including the first two Lethal Weapon films (current prints of Lethal Weapon 3 still retain the Time Warner variant of the 1984 logo), Superman II, The Exorcist, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (though the "Big W" has been retained on the original 1997 DVD release), The Lost Boys, Blazing Saddles, All the President's Men, Falling Down, Return of the Living Dead Part II, and current prints of the National Lampoon's Vacation series (with the exception of European Vacation) have had their old logos plastered with this one in lieu of the "Shield of Staleness", though this one is mainly found on the most recent releases. The 75th Anniversary variant can be found on the aforementioned movies above. In most cases, the logo uses music, especially post-2001 when the AOL Time Warner byline version was used. The one with the AOL Time Warner byline can be found on pre-2003 films like Exit Wounds, Scooby-Doo, and The Powerpuff Girls Movie, among others. The WarnerMedia byline version first appeared on the teaser trailer for Aquaman, and made its first official appearance on Teen Titans Go! To the Movies; the Time Warner byline made its last appearance at the end of the IMAX re-release of 2001: A Space Odyssey. May or may not be plastered by the Toho logo on Japanese prints of Godzilla. This logo's time is however limited as a new logo is being introduced near the beginning of 2020. Scare Factor: None. Category:Warner Media Category:Warner Bros. Category:Special logos